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There is a lot of confusing and conflicting info right now. I'd say not to get too upset until it settles down. I would think the high number of paint apps needed on the Dungeon Grate might be iffy. I am thinking of getting the Working Class Villains version and painting one up. I meant to get it at PowerCon but they sold out before I could!

* The sculpt looks beautiful on the outside. There is a sad contrast of too much detail on the wood and rope pieces, against a flat sterile set of walls on the inside.
* Given the colors and detail we're seeing in other parts of the castle, the solid bright orange of the elevator and batwing jetpack looks very odd and out of place.
* As many others have pointed out, the doorway is too short.
* That wall piece next to the throne is far too plain. It needs textures, like those you see in the wall above it on the third floor.
* Something about those golden elevator poles with skulls on top doesn't sit right with me. It's too prominent and throws off the rest of the set's design.
* The platform above Roboto seems a bit precarious, like it shouldn't be there. It's too small and flimsy, looking like it would either break off or be slanted and useless as a character display platform, and it doesn't connect to the top wood platform.
* What holds the elevator in place?
* I'm assuming the throne will have the same "trap" function as the original playset?
* There appears to be an unflattering gap between the right side of the top "wood" platform and the outer shell of the castle. In one image Zodac's feet are crammed inside of the gap.
* The space suit looks ugly as an un-articulated piece.
* Is that a rope ladder hanging off of the small platform? The
* Also thinking a 3D version of the grate sticker would be more fitting than the prison cell on the bottom floor. They could move the prison to the other side to make room for the grate.
* There is a second ugly gap between the walls of the prison cell.
* Wouldn't it make more sense to have the carpet trap drop down into the prison cell?

A huge thanks to Pixel Dan for making this video, and to JonWes for posting it in this thread! Some second impressions:

* I cannot see the Wind Raider actually fitting comfortably inside the castle.
* Loving the fact Matty's adding the sword door trigger to the playset similar to the original. Scott also mentioned there will be a second keyhole of some kind on the backside of the castle where a secret entrance will be placed.
* There seems to be a gap between the top of the jawbridge and the top of the mouth when it's closed. Perhaps they carved out a bit of extra space so the figures would fit inside a little better?
* The Horsemen sculpted the playset in only 2 weeks, and it involved 16 people!
* Really not sure I'm liking how there is actual undetailed floorspace when the playset is opened up. The back side of the castle seems to float above the base.
* That thing is huge!

Pros:
--The facade is absolutely stunning. Best Grayskull sculpt ever, basically.
--the throne is just beautiful. Perfect.
--the wooden floors are awesome.
--all the 3-D sticker/cardboard parts are looking cool. I'm happy they included the space suit.
--I love that they went with the vintage elevator, but added the prototype skull, very nice.

Neutral on:
--The size. Yeah it would be nice if it was bigger, but I'm fine with it. I can understand people wishing it was bigger though (although it will still be bigger in person than you think).

Cons:
--the inner walls are smooth. I feel they should be sculpted brick, just like the outside. I really hope that will happen, or else it's a missed opportunity.
--The candleholder is missing (present on b-sheet)
--the flags next to the inner door are missing (present on b-sheet)
--a lot of other items are missing that they talked about including (ie: the dungeon grate. And even though I don't want it, the torture rack. Also the punching bag for the training area.)
--the mace is cool, but I'm not seeing the smaller weapons rack it would be for?
--only one ladder, I'd prefer two.

I hope we see more by SDCC. I love most of what we're seeing, but it would be nice to also see things we thought would be included.

Seriously, you bring up many of the points I was thinking about earlier.

I agree with you on the lack of detail on the sculpted interior. It should have a venetian plaster style inlay all over the walls that does not obstruct the play-features in any way.
The elevator posts need to be done in a marbleized stone look, not that garish metallic job...
Plus, I think more weapons should be added to the playset overall. (Perhaps some items straight out of the Filmation show??)
Also, I believe the gaps that are present on the prototype will be fixed on the final product.

Overall I am quite impressed with what we've been shown in such a short amount of time. Bravo Mattel! Thanks a bunch Pixel Dan for the vid, and JonWes for the upload!

Where are the rest of my New AdventuresClassics figures?!?!?

**Staunch FILMationlover!!! **** MUST complete the New AdventuresFaction!!!**

I have to say though, now that I've slept on it, I LOVE the castle, it could be a bit bigger, but it still looks sensational. I really adore the front sculpt of it - but it didn't help that Mattel had displayed a ton of figures all over the castle - this made it look smaller.

Castle Grayskull... Where are the protruding fangs from the concept art we all pre-ordered on?.. And the assymetry of the vintage one is retained? What the..? This is awesome sizewise, otherwise, just not, you know $200+ awesome... seriously thinking of withdrawing my preorder. This thing is waaaay shorter and less detailed than the b-sheet. I've put a pre-order on a ferrari and I'm getting a station wagon!

I completely agree on every single point you've listed. I like it in general and I can't wait to have it, but I share your impressions about things that can be improved.
I'm still hoping that the untexturized internal walls are unfinished though, they contrast too much with the details of the external surface and real castles aren't flat inside as if they were modern apartments, stones should be visible.

Originally Posted by AdultCollector

First impressions:

* The sculpt looks beautiful on the outside. There is a sad contrast of too much detail on the wood and rope pieces, against a flat sterile set of walls on the inside.
* Given the colors and detail we're seeing in other parts of the castle, the solid bright orange of the elevator and batwing jetpack looks very odd and out of place.
* As many others have pointed out, the doorway is too short.
* That wall piece next to the throne is far too plain. It needs textures, like those you see in the wall above it on the third floor.
* Something about those golden elevator poles with skulls on top doesn't sit right with me. It's too prominent and throws off the rest of the set's design.
* The platform above Roboto seems a bit precarious, like it shouldn't be there. It's too small and flimsy, looking like it would either break off or be slanted and useless as a character display platform, and it doesn't connect to the top wood platform.
* What holds the elevator in place?
* I'm assuming the throne will have the same "trap" function as the original playset?
* There appears to be an unflattering gap between the right side of the top "wood" platform and the outer shell of the castle. In one image Zodac's feet are crammed inside of the gap.
* The space suit looks ugly as an un-articulated piece.
* Is that a rope ladder hanging off of the small platform? The
* Also thinking a 3D version of the grate sticker would be more fitting than the prison cell on the bottom floor. They could move the prison to the other side to make room for the grate.
* There is a second ugly gap between the walls of the prison cell.
* Wouldn't it make more sense to have the carpet trap drop down into the prison cell?

Last edited by Kobra Khan; February 11, 2013 at 04:33pm.
Reason: Evil Master of Typos

I'm hoping we don't lose anything that was shown, especially things like the armor.

As for some points made here:

I would like the inside walls to have some detail, but their mere presence is big step up from looking at the backside of the external sculpt. If they are as they look right now, I can live with it.

We aren't going to get the armor as a figure at this point unless it was already on the menu for this year (and apparently it's not), so this is the best I think we could get. Taking a cardboard cut-out and turning into a three dimensional piece is something I really didn't expect them to go for. Hollow or rotocast, I think it looks great, and I hope it is not dropped.

I think the whole thing is well done, and if all the paint apps (like the wooden support on the outside) and other pieces stay, I'd say it is worth the price I'm paying (and recall, I'm not getting it from Matty, so my price is even higher). No clue at the moment where it is going, of course, but I've got about a year to figure it out. No way am I passing on this.

"I will use this power for all the good that can be done, to work for peace, to encourage virtue, and above all, to preserve life in all its forms..." Superman

It is Grayskull and it is huge - it just is not the thing many of us pre-ordered. I'm feeling the detail and fan-love of 4H in this, but there's a restraint and skimping on original promises that reeks of a certain guru of toys...

Time for me to chime in,
First of a BIG FAT THANKS to Dan for giving us a good clear look at the Castle and the new figures,
CHEERS DAN !!!!,

Well what can anyone say it's a beautiful sculpt, just amazing, and being a professional sculptor myself and having sculpted my own castle, I know how much fun it is to do, and you can see it in the sculpt, the little details are great
Also having watched the horsemens video on cereal geek I see that Erick was confined to the armature under structure, which can be a drag if you want to make last minute sculpting decisions,

I'm also very familiar with the mould making process and know that the inside wall's could be sculpted on the inside of the armature ( the White flat base Eric was sculpting on) with very few problems,
the two 'inside' sides of the prototype mould would have to be redone, which would cost
A lot in silicone and labour I'm sure, but not so much that it couldn't be done,
And as I'm pretty sure I've heard Eric or Scott( can't remember who) say on Roast Gooble, it's not the sculpting that costs, it's the steel production moulds.
With that being said maybe the interior would be too pricey once they got to that stage, altho the flat interior still has to be cut from the steel, so who knows,
That I'll freely admit I have no knowledge about that process,
All in all I wish it was a few inch's bigger all-round ,
ZH

In the video TG said that the walls would be thinner to allow more play space in the final. I wonder if they will eventually just be the negative of the Castle's exterior like in the original? Was the detail on the prototype's interior (like the flat walls) just from the plastic armature?

I've thought of an "easy" solution for the infamous CG small entrance: add a lower part to the jaw bridge, make it a little taller and "carve" the rocky base underneath.
The problem at the moment is that once open the door gets in the way (like a step) in the entrance and takes away too much space. Result: the figures aren't able to pass through.
By "carving" the rocky base underneath the spot where the jawbridge "falls" when it's open and by lowering the hinge, the door would not become a "step" any more and about an inch will be saved. This would allow the figures to pass and would not be too bad design-wise.
What do you think?

In the tubular section where the lift go's up and down , you can see the continuation of the tube used for the armature coming round in to the middle of the 'room'. TG points at it in Dans video and say it won't be there, so they( design ) will at some point be changing the interior,...let's hope it's for the best.

- - - Updated - - -

Kontroller, yep this sounds perfectly feasible, but the door would need to be re-sculpted, to retain the aesthetics, also the base section would, once altered, need to be remoulded.
They could I guess alter the base in it's ' hard form' using a sculpting compound that hardens so they could save costs on the remould, but it wouldn't be worth the risk of sending it away to China only to have the re-modelled piece break out in transit.

I keep hearing that the interior will go through some changes. And in most cases, they will make it better.
This is a beautiful sculpt and a stunning paint job. I am so happy.
I think fans were clear that they wanted Battle Cat and He-Man to ride through that door, so I don't know why that wasn't a standard for consideration. And looking at Clawful under the bottom floor--it really is just a little too small. Still, I'm floored over every other aspect.
The robot! There's no way I want a $27 robot. This is perfect. I'd like some simple articulation, but I'll take it as it is.
I do want to see the throne and trap function at SDCC.
We got way more than I thought we would get this early in the year. If this is the starting point... Wow!